Improvement in felted fabrics



EEicE.

SIMON l?. SIVER, OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT.

. IMPROVEMENT IN VFELTED FABRICS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 100,563, dated March 8, 1870.

To all whom it may concern.-

Bc it known that I, SIMON P. SrvER, of

Danbury, in the county of Fairfield and Stateof Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Felts; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accom, panying drawings, forming part of this speciiication.

This invention relates to that class of fabric which are marked with colored spots or ornamental figures upon a plain ground; and it consists in a new method of producing such a fabric, whereby a cheaper and more durable material will be introduced to the public.

Figure l represents a plan view of a piece of felt constructed .according to my improvement. Fig. 2 represents a section through the same, and Fig. 3 represents the pieces such as-I use to work into the main body.

. Similar letters of reference indicate correspending parts.

A is the ground, and B the small pieces of 4.previously prepared felt worked into the ground in the following way: I take small pieces B, of soft felt, made by cutting from felt previously manufactured in the usual way and in any colors, land feed themin with the wool for the ground A, on the top thereof, as it is fed to the carding or other machines used in the preparation of the wool or in finishing the bats for the felts, so that they are carded and felted with the upper surface as represented in the drawings, and produce fabrics with colored spots of more permanent character than can be made by. stamping or printing.

The object of using felt rather than pieces of wool or unfelted material is to bring into prominent relief the figures or spots designed. If I fed to the carding-machine colored bits of raw wool or` other fibrous substance, they would be carded to pieces and intermixed, so as to exhibit a matted fabric, while the bits of felt by my method will go through the machine without being broken or having their individuality destroyed. Again, the bits of felt used by me are` made of short waste wool, now usually thrown away. By being thus enabled to utilize the waste product I can cheapen the fabric some twenty per cent. This short waste cannot now be used, because in attempting to make a felt by mixing it with good wool it spoils the product. During the process of felting this short waste nearly all washes out. It then appears absolutely necessary, in order to utilize this waste, to felt it separately, then cut into bits, and work it in with better material.

The advantage of the fabric produced by my method over that now in the market, formed by printing or stamping, consists in the superior fixedness and durability of the spotting and the great decrease in the cost of the fabric. This latter result is due to two causes-namely, to the less expense of my process, and to the use of waste wool for the spotting.

The feeding may be accomplished by any approved means, and the same may be so arranged as to deliver the pieces in groups. lines, or in a way to produce ornamental figures.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patenty l. The process of forming felted fabrics having plain grounds and ornamental spots by intermixing bits of felt with the bat while the same is being formed in the carding-machine,

and then felting the product in the ordinary y 

